Finding Unauthorized Faith…

Supergirl is back! And I am soooooo happy about that. Season 1 returned from the holiday break with episode 9, Blood Bonds. Non scaled an attack on Lord, kidnapping Hank before retreating leaving Alex to man the DEO and find a way to negotiate Hank’s release. Meanwhile, Astra is still in DEO custody weaving partial truths and half-lies which are messing with Kara’s mind. Oh, and Cat is convinced Kara is Supergirl. So, let’s get right into it, shall we?

Kara: Where did Non take Henshaw?

Astra: I spent years in Fort Rozz. It’s going to take more than a stern voice to scare me.

Kara: Maybe I’ll have my cousin come down and the two of us can force you to talk.

Astra: Kal-El doesn’t have the stomach for it. He was raised on Earth. He might as well be human. You are the true heir to the House of El.

Kara: (SCOFFS) This has nothing to do with her. This is about saving a man’s life. My mother may not have been the woman I thought she was, but I know what you and Non are.

Astra: Are you so certain of that? Did Non kill you today when he had the chance? I ordered him to spare you because blood bonds us all.

Kara: Those are empty words coming from you.

Astra: If they were, you would not be alive.

Kara: If blood bonds us all, then why don’t you just tell me where Henshaw is?

Astra: Because blood does not bond us to him.

Kara: I couldn’t disagree more. All life is bonded by blood.

Astra: You speak of your human family. The ones who have caged me in here.

Kara: You’ve done this to yourself.

Astra: Then you have chosen your side.

The title of episode 9 is Blood Bondsand for good reason. The entire storyline is about what “blood bonds us all” really means. To Supergirl, it means everyone, even her enemies. To Astra it is confined to those with like blood, and even more so to those with like ideals. When Supergirl tries to talk to her aunt to find out where Hank is, Astra leads her on a false trail, making Kara think her aunt actually cares. But when a bomb goes off where a fake Hank was planted; a bomb meant to kill Alex and the others, Supergirl realizes she’s been duped again by the woman who claims to love her. Add to that Max Lord beating up James Olsen, and Kara is at her wits end with rage.

James: If you go after Maxwell Lord like this, then you know what, you’re just proving him right. That you are no different from Astra or Non.

Kara: What if I’m not so different?

Winn: You have to be, Kara. Because if you aren’t, then we lose.

Kara: No, you don’t understand, Winn. I feel like I lost everything. I can’t stop Max. Or get through to Astra. I can’t rescue Hank or salvage what I had with Cat. Even the memory of my own mother, one thing that I could always count on, is ruined. (SIGHS) I have nothing left. I don’t know what to do anymore. I have all these powers, but I’ve never felt more powerless.

James: Hey. Kara, it’s going to be okay. Even when things look the bleakest, heroes find a way.

Kara nearly follows in her aunt’s footsteps (and Lord’s too), stomping off to go hurt Max Lord in order to get what she wants. Thankfully her best friends are there to remind her who she is, and why it is important that she not lose that person.

Astra: They sent you back to try again. What makes you think it’ll be any different this time?

Kara: Because now, I’m ready to hear what you have to say. I was afraid to listen before. But today, I got so upset, I couldn’t think. I didn’t want to. I just wanted to hurt someone. Because I was afraid of losing everything that mattered to me. Like you must’ve felt back home. But if we have any hope for the future, we can’t let our fear control us. We have to be better.

Alura: Because you killed people, Astra. No matter what noble goals you hid behind, nothing will ever change that fact. And I am bound by more than blood in this court. But I promise you, I will fight for your cause, not through fear and manipulation, but through compassion and reason. It is the only hope to save our world. I love you, Astra.

Astra, Alura, and Kara all have the same aims. They want to save. However, they have very different means and breadths of their aims. Astra will use any means to save those who share her blood and ideals. Alura, Kara, and even Kal will use means encompassed in compassion and faith and love to save everyone—even those who are not like them or don’t agree with them.

Many people vastly misunderstand who Jesus Christ is. They think because some of those who say they follow him use any means to serve the interests of those who are like them, and forsake those who are not, that He must too operate that way. Kara and Astra are both Kryptonians. Maxwell Lord would have us think that all Kryptonians can’t be trusted because a handful hurt him and his loved ones in the past. However, he is judging all by the small sampling of his experience.

Don’t judge Jesus but a small sampling. See who he is for yourself. If you read his words in his book (Bible), you will find he was a man of compassion and grace and kindness. He sought to serve those that the elite wouldn’t so much as touch. He helped those who ridiculed, mocked, and sentenced him to death. He did everything he could to serve everyone, even his enemies. He did not discriminate. To me, he took the side of Kara, Allura, and Kal in the bonds of blood debate (or should I say they took his side). He said, blood bonds us all, so I am going to serve all in hopes I can save as many as possible.

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. ~ John 3:16-17 NLT